Perhaps you’ve already seen the propaganda film clipsshown in cinemas during World War II. In them,
the “war effort” was uplifted, our valiant soldiers were praised, and idle
youth were encouraged to sign up with our brave soldiers. We see these
clips now and smile, tell ourselves that that was another time. And yet,
no. History is repeating itself yet again, and at what a price?

In late 2001, the US movie
industry put out a three-minute trailer extolling the US war effort in
Afghanistan. Directed by Chuck Workman and produced by Michael Rhodes, the
trailer showed patriotic scenes taken from legendary moments of the US
cinematic repertoire. The Mary Pickfords, Charlie Chaplins, Tom Cruises
and Ben Afflecks appeared, heroic, to spur on the American spirit of
spectators in some 10,000 theatres where this Hollywood product was shown.

The goal? Who knows? At first
glance, it seems inoffensive and it even provokes tears from Mrs. Smith
while Mr. Smith contains himself to keep from brandishing his fist and
crying out "Let's go guys!” At this time, the US army and its loyal
allies rain down bombs and chemical products on desert land where the bad
guy is supposedly hiding. Forget about civilians, cut to the chase:
eliminate the enemy.

For
some years, we’ve been outraged by the rise of extremist right-wing groups with
neo-nazi tendencies, especially in Europe but in the US as well. The
gravity of youth identifying with a movement and taking from its violent and
heinous history. It is thus the epitome of chic to go hunting for nazi artefacts
and anything that represents or makes us think about that shameful period, and
let’s put this clearly, with reason. The slaughter of the holocaust still defies
reason and nobody can imagine that such horrors are repeated.

So while this witch hunt that takes us
back 50 years goes on, our cinemas are showing Black Hawk Down, Amen and other
such types of movies. These two examples are definitive. The first, directed by
Ridley Scott, the second by Costa-Gravas, are two examples of success and
talent.

A French journalist stated earlier in
2002 that he had proof showing that Black Hawk Down was produced under the
auspices of an order from the US Department of Defence. Even though the evidence
hasn’t been clearly revealed, the film in question nonetheless recounts the epic
story of US commandos dispatched to Somalia during the 90s to restore order in
this country overrun by anarchy: a quintessentially anti-American concept.

The
Somali drama culminates in a country ravaged by years of civil war.
The result is more than 300,000 victims of under-nourishment and a countless
number of civilians killed during armed conflict, and so the landing of allied
forces. Since then, no more news of Somalia. All we know is that there’s been a
clean up. Westerners have restored order there, and all that’s left to do is
count their dead. As for facts, how many Somali were killed? No official numbers
have ever been given. All that’s remembered is the image of the body of a US
soldier dragged in triumph through the streets of Somalia’s capital, Mogadscio.
There is also the moving death of 18 of Uncle Sam’s soldiers, and as for the
rest . . . a Ridley Scott film will serve to bring us full circle and make us
forget about the devastation of the real situation.

In 2002, Costa-Gravas came out with
Amen. He’s the creator of Z (an incisive film that denounced the dictatorship of
the colonels in Greece during the 60s), State of Seige in which he criticized
American imperialism, and Music Box in which he bashed fascism and racism. Amen
thrilled critics. The film denounced the silence of the Catholic Church and
western diplomats even though they knew about the Jewish holocaust. An Italian
priest takes offence and tries to get the Pope to react, to no good. Our priest
dies, an indignant German officer comes out a hero, and the Jews once again get
our sympathy. Okay. Now we’re in 2002. We’re chasing Arab terrorists throughout
the world.

The hot spot on our planet is Palestine and Israel where Jews and Arabs
and killing each other. We hear a lot about US Jewish lobby
groups, we denounce the impoverishment of Israeli authorities and we hate
suicide bombers. Nothing is coming out of this conflict without end. And
at this moment, Costa-Gravas, the man for all social causes, directs a big
budget Hollywood movie that takes us back to a time in history fifty years
past.

There will be some who will
maintain that to forget a grim present, it’s best to look to the future or
sink into the past. Let’s forget about the present and remember the past.
Is this healthy? Do we only have the right to still ask this question? The
propaganda of US cinema will answer for us. The messages are shifty and
illusion, effective.